My views on the spinnaker are this:
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<br>I would go for the biggest one we can use, currently the 16ft cats going fast the in the UK are using 17.5 sq m and 18 sq m sails. And there is no doubt we lose out to the f18 in lighter airs due to their increased area.
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<br>If we are baseing the rule around Texel handicap system the max size sail we can use is 18sq m. There is no difference in the handicap whether we use 16, 17 or 18 sq m so lets use 18. The max size for 18ft cats is 21 sq m and for 20 ft cats is 25sq m, and guess what f18 use 21 and f20 use 25. As far as pole length is concerned I agree to limit the pole to 80 cm beyond bow, if we use Texel. However if you base the rule around ISAF, pole length is not regulated and I would go bigger because it is faster, sheeting points can go forward (neater), and costs no more to make.
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<br>For the luff length I agree that longer is faster(we want faster don't we) and if we control mast length then we can control spinnaker luff length by having a max height of halyard point, I would suggest about 300mm below top of mast. If we are having carbon masts (which we should) the manufacturers will reinforce the masts so that they do not fail.
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